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It’s going to be an interesting week on the Hill as we’ll hear from the various military service chiefs as lawmakers question them about whether it’s time to repeal DADT — or doing so is somehow too disruptive. (WaPo):
But lawmakers, who are divided on whether to end the ban, say they want to hear from the service chiefs. They are the ones who would be in charge of putting any changes in place and responding to any fallout.“The armed forces have always placed military effectiveness above individual needs,” said Rep. Gene Taylor, a conservative Democrat from Mississippi who says he is unconvinced that the ban should be lifted.
“This is one of the core concepts that has made the U.S. military one of the most effective combat forces in history,” he said.
While Mullen says he believes the ban should be lifted, he has said he can’t speak for the service chiefs other than to say they support Gates’ yearlong assessment.
The service chiefs are scheduled to testify separately throughout the week, with the Army’s Gen. George Casey and the Air Force’s Gen. Norton Schwartz going first on Tuesday. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway, who is said to oppose changes to the policy, will testify on Wednesday.
But yet another military voice has come forward signaling that action needs to be taken in today’s WaPo, showing that the the likes of John McCain, Rick Santorum and Elaine Donnelly are finding it hard to present any sane argument why DADT needs to remain in place. Here’s Gen. David Petraeus:
The U.S. commander overseeing troops in Iraq and Afghanistan says he’s not sure that troops in the field care about the sexual orientation of fellow service members. Gen. David Petraeus says he’s served alongside gays and lesbians, and what matters are someone’s skills and smarts.Petraeus tells NBC’s “Meet The Press” that he supports Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ plan to study how the ban could be repealed. Advocates for a quick repeal have said the yearlong review is a stalling tactic. But Petraeus says it’s a good idea to look at potential problems.
Petraeus has not shared his personal opinion on DADT repeal yet, but will do so when he heads to the Hill to testify later in the spring.
12 Comments
I’m confused about somethingWill these be House hearings only, or will the Senate also hear testimony during their military budget hearings this week too?
Also, is it only going to be the military hierarchy talking now? What happened to our panels who were supposed to testify during the Senate hearing that was canceled due to snow?
Who’s fooling who?DADT is a dinosaur and we all know it.
http://bit.ly/ahQTbl
(social satire)
Wrong link aboveApologies – the link above isn’t what I intended it to be. here’s what I meant:
http://bit.ly/9YNli3
Does your House member or Senator know the DADT polling from their state?The House Armed Services Committee has three Congressmen from North Carolina on it (Reps. Jones-R, McIntyre-D, Kissell-D).
http://armedservices.house.gov…
Do you think they know about the new poll from NC showing majority support for repeal of DADT?
http://publicpolicypolling.blo…
Let’s make sure they do.
On another thread, I noted that NC’s two US Senators sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee (Burr and Hagan).
Their offices should be flooded with this NC-specific poll as well.
Good questions, Lurleen…
Nothing’s clear from the Senate Armed Services Committee Website which currently says:
BUT that doesn’t mean they won’t be discussing DADT, too, as the House Committee’s site doesn’t specify that the Chiefs will be specifically asked about DADT either in discussion of the budget, though I’m sure they will [and the order of their appearance is different than that specified in the WAPO article].
http://armedservices.house.gov…
HOWEVER, I AM SURE OF TWO THINGS:
1. I’ve seen no evidence yet that ANY of our gay orgs are adequately capitalizing on the support of the person who, more than any other, now seems to hold DADT’s fate in his hand: Carl Levin, Senate Armed Services Committee Chair who I am sure will get the hearings back on track [including nonmilitary testimony] soon after the tsunami of snow that shut down DC as he has said that he is seriously considering putting repeal or a moratorium on discharges in the defense authorization bill. WHY AREN’T THEY? [Perhaps something will come out of Gay Inc.'s most recent secret conference call on DADT a few days ago.]
2. WHERE are their protests that, while offering a little more of the anti DADT side, this hack writer for the AP is regurgitating again the same talking points hand fed her by the Pentagon, virtually word-for-word from her transparently biased article a few days before.
WHO is “most” ? WHAT “upheaval” ? What about the integration of women?
WHERE’s the PROOF the change would be “disruptive” at all? WHEN did we give troops “time to get used to” ANY change in policy? “Oh, let’s not send them to Afghanistan too quickly. Let’s let them get used to it.
My cousin in the Marines had FOUR DAYS to “get used to it” before he was shipped to Afghanistan a month ago.
The clock is rapidly running out on any chance of repeal or a moratorium through the 2011 budget which will surely be voted on by the end of October as this year’s was [it officially kicks in October 1].
STOP THE MADNESS!
Clarification: Not DADT hearingsThese aren’t actually hearings on DADT per se. Rather, the hearings are on the defense authorization bill, and each of the various service chiefs will be there to answer questions about his branch.
It is because the brass is there already, that the committee will also ask questions about DADT.
Having said all that, however, you can expect the press to largely ignore all the “boring” military stuff if any of the big stars says anything for ending DADT, and to double-quick rush out news bulletins if anyone says anything against open service.
Here we go.I try to be as optimistic as possible, but I really do believe that if this does not pass this year it will be a long time to come before it is brought back up. Lets really hope that does not happen.
Lobby Day Time for a human swarmPlease join me.
On Friday, March 19, SLDN will host its 8th Annual Lobby Day in Washington, D.C. Once again, we will be storming Capitol Hill to push for repeal. Now, more than ever, we need to keep up the pressure on our legislators to end DADT this year.
Sign up for SLDN’s 8th Annual Lobby Day:
http://www.sldn.org/LobbyDay2010
It is our responsibility to speak up and challenge the growing voices of opposition in the Senate. Recently, Col. Terrel S. Preston, USAF (Ret) did just that in a letter to Sen. John McCain.
“You have often said you would listen to military leaders if they decided it was time to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ Now the nation’s top military leaders — Gen. Colin Powell, Joint Chief Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates — support repealing this discriminatory law. I urge you to live up to your words — and to the integrity of the office you hold — and end ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’”
Your Senators need to hear from you, your friends, neighbors, colleagues – everyone. Meeting face-to-face will make the greatest impact in getting them to vote for repeal legislation this year. Your voice can make the difference.
Join us on Friday, March 19:
http://www.sldn.org/LobbyDay2010
2010 is the best year for repeal. With your continued support, we can take advantage of this historic opportunity and finally get rid of DADT.
P.S. Can’t make it to Lobby Day on March 19? Take action here: http://www.sldn.org/Senate.
Do you live in Sen. Levin’s office?Just wondering, because otherwise how can you know who is talking to him and who isn’t? From the emails coming out of Palm Center and SLDN and other orgs, it is clear to me that nobody is napping. Everyone is working hard to keep this moving in the right direction.
Michael, which approach to the repeal do you think is most likely to work, a stand-alone bill, or an amendment to the defense re-authorization bill? And what is your opinion of the proposal that an end date be set in law now, but the military be given 12 or 18 months to plan for it and actualize it?
With respect, I must disagree…
…with “Everyone is working hard to keep this moving in the right direction.” To continue your metaphor, perhaps not everyone is napping, but is the sleep walking of some any better? If that were the consensus, Pam et al., would not have organized the “swarm” five days ago and the Palm Center’s Nathaniel Frank would not have published an editorial the next day in the Huffington Post declaring that DADT repeal “is in grave peril.”
The legislated “Set End-Date/Delayed Implementation” proposal seems the more viable to pass IF Sen. Levin can be persuaded to support it by a UNIFED front of gay groups while what we have now is an array of mixed messages…reaching from a clear call for this to a kind of cold mush of wishful thinking.
[To clarify for those unfamiliar with it, implementation of repeal would begin in 12 months, to be complete six months later.]
HOWEVER, one can disagree with even those one personally knows and highly respects. I’ve yet to see anything that explains why we should suddenly agree to wait a year for implementation to begin other than that’s how long the dinosaurs in the Pentagon, of which Gates REMAINS a representative by virtue of such an absurd suggestion, WANT when the House bill everyone has previously been supporting says:
Including such language mandating something beyond just “repeal” [regardless of whatever time is tied to it] is absolutely necessary whatever the vehicle. The windows above combine Sen. Levin publicly said he feels “a year is too long” with the reality that there already exists a vast decades-old network of non-discrimination policies and programs enforced from the highest level in the Pentagon to the smallest and farthest-flung military outpost around the world to which “sexual orientation” need only be added to “race, color, gender, and religious affiliation” with the fact that “zero tolerance” policies against harassment of those suspected of being gay in the military ARE ALREADY TAUGHT in basic training.
Remember, the existing policy has already evolved to Don’t Tell, Don’t Ask, Don’t Pursue, Don’t HARASS. The many failures of enforcing it have resulted, in part, by the contradictory message of the basic policy itself that gays AREN’T worthy of equal respect. The elimination of the former will amplify the achievement of the latter.
The War Department is as aware as anyone in the brass of the failure of stop-loss to make up for declining enlistment, deaths, suicides and high causality rates.
The generals, the WH and Congress are terrified of reintroducing a draft.
And given the fact that Obama and all the leaders of both parties are determined to keep as many troops in Iraq as necessary to keep a strangle hold on their oil and continue to escalate in Afghanistan and Pakistan they need more cannon fodder.
So they’re considering repealing DADT, not because it’s unfair, not because it’s part, along with DOMA, of B. Clinton’s legacy of mean-spirited bigotry, but because they need more meat for the grinder.
Sometimes it seems as if most of the US general staff were chosen from contestants of some sort of military special Olympics. Do they think that we are going to rush to enlist to get our fair share of debilitating and disfiguring wounds, to suffer from PTSD and become part of the skyrocketing suicide statistics?
Do they think they can conquer and colonize the Gulf region, Afghanistan and Pakistan to insure control of oil and gas?
Do they think they can win hearts and minds by murdering civilians and destroying their towns, as they’re doing at Marjah and did for a decade in Nam.
Do they really think they can destroy the large, leftwing, militant Iraqi oil unions who are determined to protect their national resources.
Apparently so.
What dummies.
Changes Need To Be Made…I really think tha changes need to be made in the military. I’m told that some soldiers don’t even get a decent mattress whilst others live in pure luxury.